Zero Tolerance
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: AU/Modern day.


**Disclaimer &**** note:**_ I don't own White Knight Chronicles. Nor do I own Zai, Ryan and Sapphire who belong to Greywing44, __littleking9512 __& __Phoenix Stardust __respectively._

_This is probably the first AU modern time fic for this site. Also, ages are either 16 (sophomore/junior) or 18 (senior). You'll find out who's what age as you read._

_Enjoy!_

***#***

Yulie moaned as she felt her head violently trying to split in two. Amidst the sledgehammers working away on her skull, the teen managed to struggle out of whoever's bed she had collapsed in and traipse out the room towards the bathroom. All the while managing to question what she had drank and done last night but unable to go any further without increasing the migraine.

After relieving herself, and getting to know the toilet better face to face, Yulie managed to stumble her way into the kitchen where, thankfully, someone handed her a glass of water as he guided her to the nearest seat upon which she downed the drink in one only to splutter and cough as she realised it was not water she was drinking.

"What was that?" She choked managing not to throw up whatever she had just downed.

"Prairie oyster: one raw egg, couple drops of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce plus a pinch of salt and ground black pepper each" Said a familiar voice, probably belonging to the person who gave her the drink, as a glass of orange juice was placed before her.

"Tastes like one as well" Yulie gagged before washing her mouth out with the drink before her not realising she was suddenly feeling much better all of a sudden. It was only after putting down her empty glass did she notice several things with her clearer mind.

Currently over at the other side of the kitchen concocting several more prairie oysters, no doubt meant for several of the others when they woke up, was Alastor de Varce, one of her big brother's friends who was to be staying with them for aa while in the small mansion Caesar's adoptive father had loaned them; her attire only consisted of the dark green T-shirt the blue haired senior was seen wearing yesterday; if her blurry memory was correct, she had woken up in aforementioned senior's room; her attire consisted of _only_ the senior's T-shirt.

"Sonuva-!"

Alastor swore loudly as the glass Yulie had previously drank from connected with the back of his head with unerring accuracy.

"The hell was that for?!" He demanded as he rounded on the teen who glared back just as tensely despite the redness of her face which seemed to be more of anger than embarrassment.

"Like you don't know! You drugged and took advantage of me, didn't you?!" Yulie threw back as she used both hands to try and tug the T-shirt further down her legs despite it already hanging well passed her hips.

Alastor broke is staring contest with Yulie and proceeded to grab a towel, wrap it round a bag of frozen peas and press it to the back of his head hissing as the cold made contact with the flaring lump.

"Don't tell me you not only forgotten what you did yesterday but also forgotten the whole day that built up to you downing a whole bottle of Albanan Ale in one?" He queried sitting down on the opposite side of the island in the centre of the kitchen across from the girl.

"What do you mean?" Yulie asked her glare disappearing into a look of confusion. "I did this to myself?"

"Right in one, lightweight" Alastor replied bluntly. "How much _do _you remember of yesterday?"

Yulie propped her elbows on the counter and placed her head in her hands as she tried to look back on what happened yesterday, the fog starting to part the further she looked.

"I definitely remember meeting up with the others after school as we waited for Leonard" She started slowly as it came back to her. "He was taking longer than usual…"

_**#~one day earlier~#**_

"Typical Leonard" Yulie muttered swinging her feet in a rhythm only she knew as she sat on the handrail leading down the steps at the front of the school. "Another detention, no doubt"

"How do you know it's a detention? He might be meeting a _special someone_, if you know what I mean" Caesar pointed out wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he sat on the steps beside Kara completing their group minus the teen in question.

"You being the _expert_ on womanizing" Kara muttered sarcastically.

Yulie had already tuned out their banter as she thought over what Caesar said. It was no surprise to those who knew her that she was besotted with her best friend who, apparently, did not see this and only thought of her as his best friend ever since their days in the orphanage where they also met Caesar and Kara.

Whether by good fortune or coincidence, the four of them as well as Setti, their big brother as they fondly called him, were still able to see each other and it had eventually lead them to residing in the small mansion Caesar's father had given Setti for his eighteenth birthday. The senior in question was currently out of town for the week but was supposedly coming back soon.

"Hey guys!" Leonard called out to them from the bottom of the stairs.

Yulie made to greet the teen only to stop in her tracks upon seeing who was attached to his arm: one Cisna Valtos, also known as the Princess of the sophomores. While the girl was actually nothing like the rich snob the title might have depicted, her caring nature had gained her the attention of almost all of the males in her year _including_ Leonard.

"Wow! Way to go, Leonard!" Caesar congratulated as he quickly descended the stairs to high five the teen for managing to get Cisna to be his girlfriend. Or so he thought.

"Uh, no, it's not like that!" Leonard remarked blushing slightly as he obviously wished it was. "She said she needed to meet with us. Apparently, her big brother's picking us all up"

"Her big brother? Cyrus?" Caesar asked tilting his head to one side as the cogs of his brain began to turn in an attempt to warm up his memory. "I thought he was in another town to complete his senior year"

"He was until a few days ago" Cisna explained still holding on to Leonard's arm to Yulie's disgust. "Now him, and a few of his friends, are being relocated here to complete their year. Your brother has been helping out the past week to get everything in order for them to move into your place"

"Brother's back?" Kara asked perking up with excitement.

Yulie held back from chuckling. While Kara may act like a tough girl with a lone wolf personality, around Setti she opened up and even thought of him as her actual brother unlike the rest of them. It was cute and funny, provided nobody teased her about it.

While seeing her 'tough as nails' sister go soft brightened her mood, the feeling doubled when Cisna's big brother arrived to take them all home. The senior apparently did not like the notion of Leonard dating his little sister and did nothing to hide his dislike for it even going as far as letting Cisna ride shotgun in his SUV while Leonard was stuck at the very back with everyone's schoolbags.

The mansion, as the group liked to call it, was merely just a two story building on the outskirts of town consisting of ten bedrooms and three bathrooms on the first floor while the ground floor contained two separate study rooms, living room and a kitchen dining room combo while a recreation room had been set up in the basement for gaming and parties which were frequent if Caesar had anything to say about it.

Standing on the front porch awaiting their arrival, Setti could not help but laugh as Kara made a beeline for him and tackling him with enough force he nearly fell down.

"Why can't she be like that with me?" Caesar asked as he got out of the SUV at a more sedated pace.

"Because you chase any girl within five years of your age with a proper rack not to mention you never seem to take anything seriously" Yulie replied instantly to the supposed heir of the Drisdall Mining Industry.

"Hey-hey-hey! Only above" Caesar quickly corrected. "I won't do five years below until I'm twenty three at least and they're of age"

"Providing you're not with Kara by then"

Like Yulie's candle for Leonard, Caesar apparently harboured feelings for Kara. The only difference was, Kara knew about it but still wanted nothing more than friendship out of him. It probably had something to do with the fact that the dreadlocked teen had a new girl at least once a month as if trying to make her jealous.

"Besides, I do take things seriously. Like, right now, I seriously believe that I can beat you to the rec room!" Caesar proclaimed quickly rushing off into the mansion with Yulie and Leonard hot on his tail.

It was a little ritual of theirs. Whoever reached the recreation room first and claimed their seat on the couch in front of the television had first dibs on what they played. The idea was placed by Yulie who was fed up with their long winded RPGs taking up most of their time and giving her less to play any of the first-person shooters she was attached to. While they agreed to the idea, most of the time Leonard and Caesar had to cheat their way to winning as Yulie was the natural athlete of the group and easily won most of the time.

By the time Caesar had reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the rec room, Yulie was at his heals. In a move to overtake him, the girl vaulted the couch instead of going round which was probably why she never noticed that her landing zone was already spoken for until she was about to land on him.

The guy she landed on was previously sprawled across the couch asleep with an open book across his face to block out the light. Previously being the key word as nobody could ignore a sudden weight being dropped on them from above especially when it was the size of an average sixteen year old girl.

"Christ, Ryan! Can't you annoy Zai or Fire in…" The mysterious man cut himself off as he lifted the book off to see someone other than the person he thought it was. "…stead? Who are you?"

At a complete loss for words for once in her life, Yulie could only stare back in shock and surprise at the blue haired teen currently forgetting she was still sitting on his stomach. In the back of her mind, she did admit that his features and dark blue eyes definitely made him attractive. There was only the problem of the scowl currently adorning his face however that seemed to be permanently attached.

"I thought Roronoa Zoro had _green_ hair not blue" Leonard pointed out as he joined them.

Being the anime fan that he was, Leonard spent most of his time, when not playing video games or working at his adoptive father's wine shop, watching or reading whatever anime and manga he could get his hands on and was currently working his way through One Piece where the protagonist's first mate bore a similar likeness to the guy Yulie was sitting on minus the hair colour and style.

"The hair may be off, but the face is a pretty close match" Caesar chipped in having borrowed several of Leonard's books when he was bored and becoming a fan of the series himself.

"Dog pile!"

Yulie barely had time to register the new voice and the thunder of feet rushing down the stairs before finding herself being pulled off the couch by the teen as he rolled off himself. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor with the stranger practically on top of her when another of Setti's friends made themselves known by landing on the couch with enough force that the springs moaned loudly in protest and it was not the only one to do so.

"Did you have to move, Alastor?" The newcomer moaned apparently landing wrongly on one of the springs.

"Seeing what you were about to do, Ryan, I thought it was the obvious choi-" Alastor's reply to Ryan was cut short when Yulie decided to remind him that she was still under him with a firm punch to the jaw causing him to sit back as he nursed his new injury. "The hell was that for?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe for throwing me to the ground like a ragdoll perhaps?" Yulie threw back not at all fazed by the glare the teen was now giving her as she sat up.

"Well maybe if you didn't just rush around and actually looked before jumping, you wouldn't have landed on me and I wouldn't have had to drag you down with me when Captain Cannonball here entered the scene!" Alastor retorted gesturing to Ryan who was staring at the two along with Caesar and Leonard.

"Hi I'm Ryan" The black haired teen introduced himself despite the fact they already knew his name.

"I'm Leonard, this is Caesar and the girl currently attempting to chew out your friend is Yulie" Leonard said as he inclined his head first to Caesar then Yulie.

"No kidding. I thought nobody could stand up to her when she got like this" Caesar agreed remembering all the times seniors, as well as himself and Leonard, practically cowered before her despite being a simple five foot five.

Ryan had a vague idea of what they were talking about and made a mental note not to try and anger the girl himself. As for his friend…

"Alastor can hold his own although people are usually too afraid to even try to threaten him when his face is like thunder" Ryan said indicating the glare said teen was sporting glad it was not aimed at him this time.

"Whit's all the racket doon here?" Another voice came from the top of the stairs.

"Just Alastor making a new friend, Fire" Ryan replied as he turned to look at the girl coming down the stairs whose getup consisted of a white biker jacket and black overalls with the sleeves tied round her waist.

"Hubba-hubba" Caesar muttered taking in the girl's figure, pale blue eyes and red and brown streaked hair that passed her shoulders.

"I would put my eyes back in their sockets if I were you, little brother" Setti advised as he appeared down the steps followed by Kara, Cisna, Cyrus and another of his friends this one towering over all of them.

"There's nothing wrong with admiring the opposite sex" Caesar protested finally looking away from Fire.

"Admiring or _Scrutinizing_?" Kara asked.

"Jealous?" Caesar retorted thinking he was finally getting through to Kara.

The blond just huffed as she looked away from Caesar causing the playboy to pout slightly.

"So…who is everyone" Caesar asked changing the subject.

"Well, you've already met Cyrus here, Alastor de Varce" Setti pointed to the teen who was now having a glaring contest with Yulie. "And Ryan Eaton…"

"Yo!" The dark haired teen greeted them all smiles.

"This foreign tech mistress is Aer Finiks Sapphire"

"Jist call me Fire. Thah others do" Fire told them.

"And the big guy behind me is Zai Zarongi" Setti finished jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the big guy.

The white haired giant grinned down at them the smile showing that he was probably just a big softy providing he was not provoked by anyone.

"Well then…" Caesar began clapping his hands loudly so that everyone was looking at him, including the bickering duo. "Now that everyone's acquainted, there's only one thing left to do"

"Party?" Ryan asked hopefully causing Caesar to deflate slightly as he was hoping no one would know. "Then what are we doing standing around here for? Let's go!"

"Brilliant, another party fanatic" Kara muttered under her breath.

"Ah kin take ye elsewhere if ye want" Fire suggested causing the blond to blush slightly at the meaning.

"I'll take my chances with him, thank you" She curtly replied.

_**~#~**_

Fortunately for Kara, the party only consisted of the sophomores and seniors already gathered. While that in itself was good, Setti had forbidden any of his siblings from having any alcohol which kicked up a fuss with all of them especially when Zai came in with a big crate of Albanan Ale over one shoulder like it was a feather.

Despite being unhappy about not being able to have a bottle, Yulie kept herself busy by finding out a bit about their new tenants.

Even though he was tall enough to become a pro basketball player if he wanted to, Zai was really interested in artwork, planning to get a major in the subject. He also had pen pal over in Faria who he was going to visit during the winter holidays.

Ryan was like Yulie, a natural athlete, and partook in whatever sports he could sign up for. He was hoping to join the army, like his father, once he graduated, and surpass him.

Sapphire, or Fire as she preferred, was a gearhead and would talk a mile a minute about anything and everything mechanical for hours on end which Yulie found out the hard way. The moment she got her deploma, the northerner was planning to tour the world in her handmade RV she had built practically from scratch.

She was unable to glean much from Cyrus who preferred watching over his younger sister like a hawk. At least she knew he was protective of his family. Perhaps he would become a bodyguard or something once he graduated.

As for Alastor, despite their rather _intimate_ first meeting, if it could be called that, Yulie had no what the teen did or studied, just that he did not back down easily even to her. Which was why she was now searching for him, eventually spotting him perched on the first floor balcony rail with a laptop across one leg as he sipped a bottle of ale.

"Not much of a people person, are you?" She asked him peeking over his shoulder to look at whatever he was doing on the laptop only to draw blank at all the techno-babble on the screen. "What's this?"

"Just a program I'm trying to finish before Monday" The teen shrugged putting down his ale and began typing with one hand while the other held the laptop in place.

"Wow" Yulie muttered as she watched his hand practically fly across the keyboard. "Didn't peg you for a geek"

"I didn't peg you for a rowdy, little tomboy, but I guess we can't be right all the time" Alastor coolly retorted without missing a beat although his eyebrow did twitch.

Yulie on the otherhand, immediately saw red. Nobody but nobody called her anything that mocked her height and got away with it. Grabbing him by the shoulder, she quickly whirled Alastor around so that they were now eye to eye despite the painful twist his body was now experiencing.

"You wanna try saying that again to my face?" She challenged him. Even if he was a good looking geek, she would not hesitate to floor him.

"What's the matter? Are you hard of hearing or just unable to hear properly at your level, Shorty?"

The laptop clattered noisily to the floor in the flurry of movements that happened next. Yulie was not sure how it happened only knowing that, one minute, she was throwing her left fist towards Alastor's face, the next, she was pinned between the teen and the balcony rail with her wrists firmly in his grip.

Frankly, she was stunned. No one had actually ever had the stones to stand up to the petite teen when she was angry, those who did quickly found themselves crushed. Now, as she stared once again into the deep pools of blue that seemed bottomless, Yulie felt something bubble up inside of her. It was not fear or dread at being helpless, something she despised being, but unfamiliar to her all the same.

The moment, if it could be called that, was suddenly interrupted by a shrill scream quickly followed by a loud slap and something hitting the ground.

"Who or what was that?" Alastor asked releasing and pulling away from Yulie suddenly realising the position they were in.

"Probably Kara meaning either Caesar or Ryan made a pass at her and she responded the only way she knows how" Yulie explained feeling both relieved and upset at the lack of closeness between them now.

"Doubt it's Ryan. He can barely string a sentence in front of a pretty face" The blue haired teen muttered but headed off to check anyway to see what was happening.

Yulie was about to follow after him when she heard giggling coming from below the balcony. Curiosity getting the better of her, Yulie peered over the rail only to feel like jumping over head first when she saw Leonard and Cisna making out. Even from where she was, she could see they were drunk and using the ruckus inside to their advantage.

Tearing her eyes away from the sickening sight below her, Yulie reached for the first bottle she saw and quickly downed its contents hoping to lose herself and numb her broken heart with whatever she was drinking…

_**#~present~#**_

"And that's pretty much all I can remember" Yulie finished quietly clearly embarrassed and upset with herself over her actions even if she had a good reason to do so.

"Too bad you didn't just knock yourself out downing it" Alastor said removing the towel from the back of his head to see if there was any blood on it. "Save the rest of us some grief"

"What do you mean?" Yulie asked slightly fearful of what she could not remember as Alastor walked away from the island. "You don't mean to say that…well…you...and me…_did it_?"

"No we didn't" The blue haired teen told her truthfully. "You just walked into my room, stark naked, slipped into my shirt and conked out beside me. Honestly"

"Oh" Yulie muttered actually sounding sad about it. She immediately blushed upon realisation and looked away. "I-I mean…Oh, thank God nothing happened!"

Alastor just rolled his eyes and tried not to shake his head at the girl's antics as he returned the almost unfrozen bag of peas to the freezer. If she knew what she had done, heck, what several of her siblings had done, including herself, he highly doubted she would be saying that.

"So…what did I miss?" Yulie asked suddenly finding herself curious as to what the others had done while she was not herself.

"Well, it turned out that the rest of your friends had managed to sneak away a few bottles of ale also" Alastor explained. "The squeal that we heard was Kara when Caesar attempted to sample the good, according to him anyway. That was all he said before Kara socked him in the jaw"

Yulie winced. Likeherself, Kara was an independant teen who was not afraid to go to blows with anyone who tried to get fresh with her- including her friends. In their inebriated states, she had less retraints on her blows so it was more than likely that Caesar was knocked out before he hit the floor.

"As for the other two..." The blue haired teen was unsure how to break this to here without making her worry. "Cyrus' little sister is back with her parents and Leonard's now sporting a black eye"

Considering the last she remembered before becoming drunk, as well as seeing how Cisna's elder brother disliked Leonard for obvious reasons, Yulie was not at all surprised by that Leonard had probably said something to Cyrus to provoke the senior into slugging him one. It was just too bad she had to miss it.

"And me?" She asked suddenly quite nervous over what she might have done.

"Just pester and annoy me, mostly" The teen replied before making for the door to the kitchen.

"Come on! There must have been more than that!" Yulie pressed quickly catching up to him in the doorway something inside telling her he was hiding something. "Tell me, _please_!"

Alastor looked away from her for a moment and Yulie could have sworn he saw him blush slightly before looking back at her.

"We kissed several times"

Those words floored Yulie who had to grab hold of his tank top to hold herself up. She had given away her first kiss to practically a total stranger even if she had gotten to know him better the night before. All this time saving herself up for Leonard suddenly just went down the toilet. She did not know if this lump in her chest was happiness or sadness.

"How many times?" She asked quietly somehow curious about something she rather not know.

"Three. The first was when I found you after returning from getting Caesar and Leonard back to their rooms, you practically jumped me before I could come out onto the second time was just before you finally conked out in my room"

"And the third?" Yulie almost did not want to know.

She was surprised when, seemingly out of the blue, Alastor wrapped one arm round her waist and used the other to lift her chin allowing them to see eye to eye before kissing her. At first, she was shocked, her eyes widening before slowly closing as she felt herself practically melt into the kiss subconsciously wrapping her own arms around his neck and deepening it. If she could describe the feeling, it would be something akin to walking on air.

"Wow" She gasped when they came up for air her lips still tingling with she was now sure was a familiar feeling.

"This was the third, reminding you of what you felt last night during the second kiss seeing as the first practically didn't register with you" Alastor told her brushing a lock of purple hair out of her face.

Yulie smiled brightly before pouting and punching Alastor in the chest.

"I'm gonna be distracted all day now trying to find out what happened, you know" She told him.

"At least it'll keep you busy" Alastor pointed out kissing her briefly before untangling himself from her and heading up to his room.

Yulie watched him go tilting her head slightly as if to get a better view. While discovering she had little tolerance for alcohol seemed like a bad thing, she at least managed to get something good out of it, providing she could remember what _it_ was.

_***#***_

_Hope you liked it. Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


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